S. Korean scientists develop transparent memory chip

SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Yonhap) -- A group of South Korean scientists on Monday announced they have created a transparent non-volatile memory chip that could open the way for see-through computers and other appliances.
The team, led by Park Jae-woo and Lim Koeng-su at the Daejeon-based Korea
Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, said transparent resistive random
access memory (TRRAM) could augment metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOS) in
widespread use today.
CMOS chips are widely used in USB memory storage devices, and employed to make
microprocessors, microcontrollers, and various types of digital logic circuits.
TRRAM was made by using transparent oxide film and electrodes on see-through
glass or plastic circuit boards. Besides being transparent, the new chips have an
operational life cycle exceeding 10 years, engineers claimed.
"The new chips could open a new chapter in the development of electronic
appliances and machinery," said Park.
He added that because the technology used to make the device is relatively
straight forward, full-scale commercial production could begin in 3-4 years if a
company is willing to invest in the manufacturing process.
The breakthrough has been published in the December issue of the journal Applied
Physics Letters.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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